


Jonathan's Tale

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-12-27
Updated: 2001-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-01 04:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/351999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follows The Non-Double-Date and Its Aftermath</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jonathan's Tale

## Jonathan's Tale

by PepperjackCandy

<http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=86102>

* * *

Title: Honesty -- Chapter 9, Jonathan's Tale Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Follows "The Non-Double-Date and Its Aftermath" Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Established Relationship  
Spoilers for: Mentions of assorted VotWs 

Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics. 

Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net. 

* * *

Two and a half hours after Jonathan left, Clark woke up like he'd never been unconscious. The first word out of his mouth was, "Lex," followed immediately by, "what are you doing in my bedroom?" 

"You don't remember anything? Ginny . . . Jenny . . . " 

Clark's eyes widened. "Jenny McIntyre! Is she all right? What about Lana? And Pete?" 

"Well, in reverse order, Pete's fine. He helped me get you home, and your mom is right now taking him to the hospital to see Lana, who hopefully is fine as well. As for Ms. McIntyre, well, you kept her contained until the paramedics could sedate her. I don't know anything more than that. And since you were so concerned about Nell Potter." Lex winked. "I think that she's probably fine, too." 

As Lex expected, Clark blushed at Lex's joking rebuke. 

"I was kidding about Nell." Lex leaned forward to kiss Clark. "She's _not_ my favorite person. How are _you_ doing?" 

Clark shrugged. "All right, I guess." 

Lex released Clark's hand and stood. "Scoot over." 

Clark did as Lex requested, looking shocked. "But, Lex. My folks . . ." 

"Well, what was it your mother told me your paternal grandmother would have said? 'That horse has already left the barn'?" 

As Clark curled around his lover and yawned, he asked. "How do you mean that?" 

"I mean it in the sense that your folks already know about us." 

Clark rested his head on Lex's shoulder. He knew he should panic at this news, but he was warm, and lethargic, and it just. didn't. matter. "Apparently, I've missed quite a lot while I was out." 

"Yeah." Lex chuckled. "We can credit Pete with that." 

Clark lifted his head. "Pete?" 

"Well, you were calling out for me in your delirium, and so your dad asked Pete why you'd be doing that, and Pete told him." 

"And how did Mom find out?" 

"Well, I guess she found out by watching me holding your hand." Clark could have sworn that Lex blushed as he said this. 

Clark grinned and put his head back on Lex's shoulder. "I could see how that would tip her off. Now, let's see. Who knows about us now? Pete, my mom, my dad, Chloe . . ." 

"Chloe knows?" 

"Didn't I tell you?" 

"No. I'd've remembered that." 

Yawning again, Clark responded. "Oh. Yeah. Well, that's why she pulled me aside this afternoon at lunch. To tell me that she understood why she hadn't been invited -- the whole non-double-date vibe that Pete was going for." 

"Cripes. I hope we never have to organize any kind of conspiracy. We'd be miserable damn failures at it." 

Clark lifted his head. "Eh. Maybe we'd have better luck if it were . . . less personal than the fact that we're in love." 

"I guess." Lex responded as he changed the subject. "So, can you tell me the story of this Jenny whoever?" 

"It's a pretty sad story, actually. She was going to be Smallville's great hope for Olympic stardom. A sprinter. But it all ended when she was held up while on vacation in Keystone City." 

"What happened?" 

"She got shot. Ended up in a wheelchair." 

"Now that's just odd." 

Clark could see the wheels turning in Lex's head. "All right, I'll bite. What's odd?" 

"Let's see . . . Greg became a bug, Tina's soft bone problem went away, Jodie lost weight, Harry became young, Jenny regained the use of her legs." He looked up at Clark, one side of his mouth quirking up in a smile. "Do you suppose the meteors are granting people's wishes?" 

"In a world where you're in love with me, I think that I'd believe that anything's possible." 

Lex kissed Clark then, long and thoroughly. They were interrupted by the sound of Martha clearing her throat. 

"Mom. Hi." Clark said, his complexion turning redder by the moment. 

"I'm just glad I already knew about this." Martha said. "Otherwise, you'd have a whole peck of trouble on your hands." 

She walked over to Clark's side of the bed and put a hand on his forehead. "How are you feeling?" 

"All right." He nodded, closing his eyes just a shade longer than necessary. "I haven't stood up yet, though." 

"Well, don't." Lex and Martha responded simultaneously, then grinned at each other. 

Clark sighed melodramatically, silently thanking whatever powers controlled his life for two people who were so concerned about him. Three, actually, but Jonathan was something of a wild card. Not that Clark doubted his father's love, but he worried about how overly-protective his father tended to be, especially where Lex was concerned. 

"Where is Dad, anyway?" Clark asked, as he yawned. 

Martha and Lex looked at each other. 

"I don't know." Lex said. 

"You usually lie better than that, Lex." 

Lex widened his eyes, apparently attempting to project the impression of honesty more strongly. "Honest. I don't." 

Clark looked slowly from his lover to his mother and back. "All right, where do you _suspect_ he is?" 

"You want to field that one?" Lex pleaded with Martha. 

"Clark," Martha said in her best 'soothing mom' tone. "It doesn't matter where your father is. He'll be home soon and then we'll have enough to contend with." 

Clark's eyes lost their focus as his eyelids became heavier. "That's not a fair answer, Mom." He said, forcing his eyelids open. 

"Go to sleep, Clark." Lex laid a reassuring hand on Clark's cheek. 

"But . . ." Clark blinked slowly, fighting his heavy eyelids again. 

"We'll talk about it later." 

Clark couldn't respond. He'd fallen asleep. 

He was startled awake by the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked. Instinctively, he threw himself in front of Lex as his eyes and mind focused on the threat. "Dad!" 

"Get out of the way, son." Jonathan said, murderously calm. 

"No." Clark kept his voice level. "You're not going to hurt Lex, Dad." 

"You don't know what you're saying, what kind of snake you're protecting there. You're just a kid, Clark. 

"What do I have to give you to get you to leave our family alone?" This was directed at Lex. 

"What do you think he wants?" Clark asked his father. 

"I think he wants the same thing his father wanted." 

"What do you . . . Um, Clark, you're sort of reducing the power of my negotiating position here." Lex said from his place behind Clark. 

Clark shook his head. "I'm not moving until _he_ puts the gun down." He never took his eyes off of Jonathan. 

Jonathan met Clark's cool gaze almost as if trying to assess whether to call his son's bluff. Then, slowly, he crouched down and laid the gun gently on the floor at his feet. 

Clark stood and three people flinched as one as he swayed under a wave of queasyweakshakiness. He concentrated and soon had righted himself. Clark took a couple of awkward steps towards the gun and picked it up gingerly, stepping out into the hallway and laying it down pointing away from the door of the bedroom. "Guns make me nervous." He mumbled as he collapsed onto the bed, pale but otherwise unharmed by his trek. 

Lex shot daggers at Jonathan with his eyes, but his demeanor was otherwise unflustered. "So, what did my father want from you, Mr. Kent?" 

"A confession." 

"Let me guess." Lex said, seemingly cool, but Clark could hear the tension in his voice. "He wanted you to confess to the murder of my mother and sister." 

Clark and Martha started. Martha silently looked to Jonathan for reassurance that Lex was lying. 

"And what do you think I did?" 

Lex was on firmer ground now. "In hopes that Dad would call me off, you gave it to him." 

"And since you evidently aren't acting on your father's orders, you want what? The same?" 

Lex shook his head. "I don't want a confession. I want the truth." 

Suddenly, Jonathan relaxed, as if he were a marionette whose strings had been cut. "The truth? You really want the truth?" 

"Yes, Mr. Kent. I'd like nothing more than to hear the truth." 

Jonathan looked around and, seeing the empty chairs sitting in the hallway, pulled one into the bedroom and sat. Martha, curious about what would happen next, followed suit. 

Jonathan sighed and rubbed his eyes, as if steeling himself. "All right. You asked for it, so here goes. It was November. Snow had fallen, but the ground wasn't quite cold enough for it to it to stick, so the ground was covered with this cold slush. The bank had assigned our loan and I had to travel into Metropolis to talk to the new bank about it. 

"It was just past dark and I was coming out of the meeting, driving up Commerce back towards the expressway. I was going past the LuthorCorp tower parking garage when she came out. She must have been going at least fifty. I swerved and avoided her, but she swerved, too, and fishtailed on the half-melted snow. She hit a lamppost. 

"I stopped my truck and got out to see if I could help. Your mother, Lily, was still conscious. She said two words to me, 'my daughter.' I went around to the passenger side and opened the door to try to save, Lena, wasn't that her name? But it was too late. 

"The paramedics came, and the police, and the police took me back to the station for questioning. I told them the truth, that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I guess their investigation said the same, because your father - Lionel - tried his hardest to get the police to charge me with _something,_ but they couldn't. 

"He even sued me for negligence, but our insurance company got that one dismissed out of hand. I'd do anything I could to bring them back, son, and I wish I hadn't been there at all, but I didn't _do_ anything to cause their deaths." 

The four people in the room were silent for a long moment. Clark looked over and saw tears falling from his lover's eyes. He took Lex's hand, squeezing it gently, willing as much strength to Lex as he could. 

"Thank you." Lex finally managed to croak out. "I needed to hear that. I was away at school when it happened, and all my father would tell me was that some farmer 'John something-or-other' had killed them. Once I grew up, I looked up the files. What made the police drop the charges was that my father could buy the police, but he couldn't buy physics. The exit from the garage is blind. You can't see a damn thing until you're practically out on the street. There's a mirror there now to take care of the blind spot, but it wasn't there then. My mom was in a hurry to leave and didn't take the corner carefully enough. It would have happened once she hit the slush anyhow. Especially considering . . ." His voice failed him. 

Clark squeezed Lex's hand more tightly, willing him even more strength for whatever he had to say next. 

"Considering that she had just caught my father with Nell Potter." 

This was greeted with complete silence. 

"How could you know that, if you weren't there?" Jonathan asked, suspicion tingeing his voice. 

"I told you. I read the police report. Nell was my father's alibi, and when they were together, they weren't playing chess." Lex concluded archly. 

"I think that's more than I needed to know." Martha opined. 

Then silence descended once again. 

Finally, Jonathan spoke. "So if you don't want a confession, what do you want?" 

Lex shrugged. "What I want most is something I already have -- Clark's love. My second highest wish? Your blessing." 

The shutters descended over Jonathan's eyes again. "Why?" 

"I love Clark. Why do _you_ find it so hard to believe that?" 

"Clark's a child. He's not capable of knowing what he wants." 

"He's above the legal age of consent." 

"And I'm sure you made certain of that before you . . . ." Jonathan couldn't force himself to finish the sentence. 

Lex laughed shortly. "Actually, Mr. Kent, I was crazy enough for him not to care. _He_ is the one who ensured that he was of age." 

Jonathan looked at Clark. "Is that true?" 

Clark nodded. "Yes." 

Jonathan looked confused by this turn of events, but he nevertheless soldiered on. "Well, that might be. But I still don't trust you." 

"I didn't expect you would." Clark could sense the resignation in Lex's tone as he said this. 

Jonathan stood and, his shoulders bowed as if under a great burden, left the room, picking up the shotgun as he passed it in the hallway. 

Clark tensed, waiting for his father's next move, but he relaxed when he heard Jonathan going down the stairs. 

Martha stood and, glancing out into the hallway after her husband, obviously concerned for Jonathan's state of mind, walked to Clark's bed. "You stay as late as you need to, Lex. I'll handle Mr. Kent." She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to Clark's forehead and then ran her fingers quickly through his hair before hurrying after her husband. 

Clark listened until he heard the murmurs of of his parents' conversation outside. He relaxed into the sound, trying to pick up their conversation, like he'd done with Lana's voice earlier that day. 

He first heard his mother's voice. " . . . glad you put that gun away." 

"You thought I'd go after Lex again?" Scoffing. 

"No. I was afraid . . ." Hesitant. 

"That I might hurt myself?" Shocked. 

At this, Clark allowed his parents their privacy and turned his attention back to Lex. "You never talk about your mom and sister." 

Lex shrugged. "Too painful." He said with simple honesty. 

"Well, if you ever need to talk, you know I'm here, right?" 

Lex nodded and he smiled sadly. "Yes. Just like I'm always here for you." 

Clark relaxed back against his pillows, curving around Lex's body. 

"She loved lilies, you know. Stargazer lilies. I still think of her when I smell them. Lena's favorite flower was simpler. Violets. They matched her eyes exactly, but I don't think she knew that. They were just . . . bright, cheerful, beautiful. Like her. It's why I have so much purple in my wardrobe. For Lena. 

"I have to go back to Dad's penthouse and get my old photo album. Maybe we can do that when we go to Metropolis next weekend. If your folks let you go after this." Lex curled up against Clark. 

"I'm sure they'll let us. Well, Mom will. She's letting you stay the night, after all." 

"Well, we'll see how supportive she is in the morning." 

"Everything will be fine. I promise." Clark picked up Lex's hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss it. "So, I guess you must have gotten your red hair from your mom?" 

Lex nodded. "But Lena was blonde. I'm not sure where that came from. I mean, I know it's a recessive gene and all, but it's just weird that I'd get my mom's hair but she wouldn't have. I wonder if I'd've hated my hair so much if I'd known that it'd be all I'd have of her someday." 

"You hated your hair?" 

"Oh, _God,_ yes. Did you ever see that kids' program thing of Anne of Green Gables? With what's-her-name? Megan Follows?" 

"Yeah. We saw it in grade school. Don't remember much about it, though." 

Lex chuckled. "All you have to remember is the scene where she cracks a slate over a boy's head for calling her 'Carrots.' That paled in comparison to how I felt about my hair. It wasn't just orange -- it was curly. My dad was only _just_ able to convince my mom not to let it grow into ringlets." 

Clark couldn't help laughing. "Red ringlets?" 

"Yes. Don't laugh. Farmboy." 

Clark pillowed his head on Lex's shoulder and yawned. "Good night, Lex." 

Lex kissed the top of Clark's head. "Good night, Clark." 


End file.
